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A wild bull elephant killed a tourist in a Thai national park on Monday, the third human death caused by the same animal, staff said in a statement.
A 65-year-old Thai tourist from Lopburi province was trampled to death while exercising near his tent at a camp in Thai Khao Yai National Park, Chief Chaiya Huayhongthong told AFP.
Thai newspaper the Bangkok Post said the elephant, locally known as Oyewan, charging at the man and slamming him to the ground with his trunk before stomping on him.
A doctor and rescuers said the man was bleeding from the mouth and nose and suffered several broken limbs and other injuries.
The camper was identified as Jirathachai Jiraphatboonyathorn, the media said.
His wife, who was nearby when the early morning attack took place, ran away after park rangers scared off the animal, reports AFP.
“He was the third person killed by Oyewan,” Huayhongthong said, adding that the elephant could have been responsible for several other deaths that remained unsolved.
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ua statement on Facebook on Monday, the park confirmed the death, saying: “Khao Yai National Park extends its deepest condolences to the families of the deceased following the incident of wild elephants attacking tourists in Khao Yai National Park.”
Park authorities will meet on Friday to discuss what to do with the elephant, the chief said.
“We will probably decide to move him or change his behavior,” Huayhongthong explained.
More than 220 people have been killed by wild elephants in Thailand since 2012, according to the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Protection.
The number of wild elephants has skyrocketed in Thailand – from 334 in 2015 to almost 800 last year – leading to the introduction of a contraceptive vaccine administered to female elephants in an attempt to curb the birth rate, France 24 wrote.
Thousands of others live in captivity, it added.
Thailand’s growing elephant population increases the risk of elephant-human conflicts, Sukhee Boonsang, director of the Wildlife Conservation Office, told AFP last month.
Asian elephants, the national animal of Thailand, are on the endangered list by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Last January, the 22-year-old tourist was killed an elephant at a sanctuary in Thailand after the animal turned on her while giving her a bath.
Blanca Ojanguren García, from northwestern Spain, was bathing an elephant with her boyfriend at the Koh Yao Elephant Care Center when the elephant attacked her.
The owner of the sanctuary said the elephant hit the woman with his trunk. No one else was injured in the attack.
Experts told local media that the elephant was probably under stress due to the pressure of life and interaction with tourists.
Another tourist was killed by an elephant while walking on a nature trail in Phu Kradueng National Park in Loei, northern Thailand in December 2024, CBS reported.
— With Global News staff files
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